|
Your upcoming movie Friday Afternoon in the Universe - in a
few words, what's it going to be about?
Friday Afternoon In The Universe is a comedic feature film
following the psychological adventures of a playwright in search of an
ending. Eleanor
is stuck in a devolving routine, unable to finish her latest play until an
ex-lover is revealed to have stolen her latest work. It is a zany revenge
film filled with laughs, heart and visual beauty. An adventurous
exploration of the creative process and personal struggles, the film is
half told in the theater of Eleanor's imagination and half on the road. What were your
sources of inspiration when writing Friday Afternoon in the Universe?
And was any of this based on personal experience, actually, and/or do you
sometimes see yourself as a playwright in search of an ending?
My last three feature films have dealt with
death and I wanted to start a new trilogy that was about redemption and
filled with life. One of my early creative influences was Kerouac and the
title comes from one of his poems. I remember reading The Dharma Bums on
the school bus and my imagination being filled with stories from the road.
As a writer and as a filmmaker, I find myself filled with both excitement
and dread when I am finishing a project. There is a certain amount of
sadness that comes from letting go of the characters the worlds that I
have created.
All of these things came together to
influence the story. Eleanor and I do share a lot of qualities. When
Jordan Eusebio and I started writing the script, we drew a lot of
inspiration from our personal histories in filmmaking and our relationship
with the process.
What
can you tell us about your co-writer Jordan Eusebio, and what was your
collaboration like?
Working with Jordan Eusebio is a seamless
process. Jordan has collaborated with me in development and on set with
each of my features. He is like a brother, in that we have an intuitive
deeply similar way of communicating. We exist on a very similar
plane. But we also have enough differences that help to challenge and
deepen our understanding of the characters we create. When it came to
writing Friday Afternoon In The Universe, I knew I would benefit
from co-writing, which is the first time I've collaborated in writing with
someone.
We live 2000 miles from each other, so a lot
of the early development was done through emails and extended phone calls.
We met in San Francisco last fall and spent 3 days walking the city,
obsessed with finishing the script. Miles of pavement worked!
How would you describe your film's
brand of humour? The film has a situational style humor.
The three characters that go on the road together each have their own
style. Eleanor has a dark/brooding sense of humor, Charlotte has a mordant
sense of humor and Frank is very deadpan. The characters are so
caught up in their own psychological state when they cross paths, that
they are unaware of how strange they have become in relating to each
other. As their stories and psychosis unravel, the humor lies in the
dynamic of the three lead characters. The film has a road movie vibe to it -
so can you at all talk about some of the locations you plan to film in? The
road serves as a sort of purgatory that the three characters exist in,
framing their individual narratives as we transition from the car to the
stage of Eleanor's imagination where we see the stories take form. We will
be filming all along Highway 101, which runs down the Oregon Coast to San
Francisco. What
can you tell us about the intended overall look and feel of your movie?
The feel of the film will move between a
very loose style during momentum fueled journey and a very restrained and
controlled style during the theater/stage scenes. The dichotomy of these
styles is driven by Eleanor's dualistic adventure - to both seek revenge
and to finish her play. Gradually, the lines begin to blur.
I am always very visual with my films, so
inevitably even the looser style will have a very intentional framing,
lighting and movement - letting the looseness come from the performances.
Anything
you can tell us about your key cast and crew yet, and why exactly these
people? I can only mention a few at this time. Kevin
Forrest will be the cinematographer for the film. He was my
cinematographer for my previous film Death On A Rock. Katy Beckemeyer (Future
Perfect, C.O.G., Grimm) Rachael Perrell-Fosket (Grimm and
star of Death On A Rock, for which she has won Best Female Role at
the 2015 Philadelphia International Film Festival) and Colin Smith (Monkfish).
I am endlessly blessed to consistently work with an extremely talented
team here in Portland, Oregon. As far as I know, your film is presently still
in its fundraising stages - so what can you tell us about your fundraising
efforts? We have a two-part funding effort. Currently, we
are raising funds and grass roots marketing through Kickstarter which will
give us the seed money to be able to approach investors for the rest of
the budget. Fundraising is always difficult, but the success of my
previous films, A Standing Still and Death On A Rock, plus
some exciting casting news that I will be able to release soon are great
leverage for successful funding. Currently, our Kickstarter campaign is
live and any dollar helps us get to our goal!
www.Kickstarter.com/profile/onwardthreefilms Once your funds are raised, what's the
schedule, and any idea when and where your film might be released, however
tentatively? A successful Kickstarter campaign gives us the
green light to move into pre-produciton. We are filming in November 2015
and plan to release the film to festivals by late fall 2016. Any future projects beyond Friday
Afternoon in the Universe?
 |
Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned) |
The links below
will take you
just there!!!
|
|
 |
Jordan and I have several
works in development, including another feature, a sci-fi web series and a
documentary. Our slogan is ONWARD, we are always talking about the next
project. I am also a founding member of the Portland-based Great
Notion Filmmaker's Collective
(GreatNotionFilm.com) and we have several
exciting projects in development and released. Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, Kickstarter, whatever else?
You can check out the film at:
www.ScottBallardFilms.com,
facebook.com/fridayafternoonintheuniverse,
and www.Kickstarter.com/profile/onwardthreefilms
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Please
take a look at our project! As an indie filmmaker, any amount of financial
or media support helps out. Thanks
for the interview!
Thank you so much!
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Scott Ballard at adultvideouniverse.com
